Maito Mai
by MaiLily
Summary: Gai saw a small little girl looking up to him and asked in small voice “tō-chan?” while holding up a necklace with two potraits on the pendant; his father and a red-hair woman. Gai walked slowly towards her and kneeled “No beautiful...I’m your nii-san and from today onwards, I’ll protect you with my life” he ended with his thumb up and a wide smile “That’s a promise”
1. Chapter #1

Story background and what to expect

'Gai would make a good brother' an idea that popped in my head. Second idea was 'Itachi and Izumi should have a happy ending'.

Initially, these two ideas ran separately in my head until I realized that, the story will be richer if I combined them both. So I did.

The main storyline will follow canon storyline, with few changes here and there. Naruto will be in this story but more of interactions, rather than main characters.

...and nope, A Tale of Two Jinchūriki is not on a break, I wrote Maito Mai using my phone while chapters for A Tale of Two Jinchūriki are in my laptop, which cannot access FanFiction for some reasons. Once these internet issues have been resolved, A Tale of Two Jinchūriki will be my primary until it is finished while Maito Mai will be written on my spare-spare time.

In the meantime...I hope you will enjoy this story.

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(About 18 months before Naruto was born)

Twelve years old Maito Gai was running around Konoha when he saw a small bird chirping and hovering above him.

'Now?' thought Gai.

ooooo

Hokage Office

"Hokage-sama" Gai greeted Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato. He also saw his teammates, Ebisu and Shiranui Genma, looking a bit worse for wear. He raised his eyebrow 'What are you guys doing here looking like that'

"Gai-" said Minato, Gai turned his attention to him "-a couple of weeks ago, we received a message from someone claiming to have your sister-"

Gai's eyes were widened 'My parents were dead' he thought to himself.

"-so normally, I have to check this claim. I sent your teammates to verify the story...all the facts are checked out and a DNA-test proved that she _is_ indeed your sister. So Gai-"

Gai saw a small little girl with black-reddish hair, thick eyebrows (molded in feminine way), black eyes with thick lashes ('She definitely got the Maito eyebrows and eyelashes' thought everyone when they see her), looking up to him and asked in small voice "tō-chan?" while holding up a necklace with two potraits on the pendant; Maito Dai and a red-hair woman.

Gai walked slowly towards her and kneeled "No beautiful...I'm your nii-san and from today onwards, I'll protect you with my life" he ended with his thumb up and a wide smile "That's a promise"

Genma felt his chest swelled up, he glanced to Ebisu and asked him "Are you crying, Ebisu?"

Ebisu turned away for a moment before replying "No, I did not" a bit too quickly.

Genma grinned.

ooooo

"Her name is Mai, since it has been proven that she is your sister, I've registered her as Maito Mai...is that alright with you?" asked Minato.

Gai nodded. His hand was holding Mai, who was still holding the pendant.

"I know that this is sudden to you, so while you were adjusting, perhaps finding a suitable place, Kushina offered to take her in-" offered Minato with a smile. Kushina was in the office when Mai arrived with Ebisu and Genma; she was very much taken with Mai and it was challenging to pry Mai away from Kushina's clutch "-if it's alright with you. You are welcome to stay with us too, Gai. That way, you can learn to get to know your sister better"

Gai was thinking, the offer from Hokage was a good one, ever since his father passed away, he lived in a small studio apartment, 'not big enough for both of us' thought Gai 'so I need to find a bigger apartment. But bigger apartment means more rent...can I take care of her with my salary?'

Smoke began to appear from Gai's head.

Minato sweatdropped. He signed for one of his ANBU, kneeled down and talked to Mai "Mai, can you follow him? He will take you to Kushina-obāsan, I have to talk with your nii-san for a while, kay?"

Mai looked at him and nodded. Once she's left, Minato turned to Gai and said "We need to talk, your sister-"

The word 'sister' brought Gai back down on Earth.

"-has kekkei-genkai" finished Minato.

"Huh?"

Minato nodded towards Ebisu and Genma.

"It's true, Gai" Ebisu began his story "We were on the way to Konoha when we were waylaid by bandits; we were outnumbered, two against two dozens-"

"I thought we were going to die when suddenly, your sister shouted...the next thing we saw was steam and lava-" added Genma.

"-surrounded the bandits. They were screaming in pain. We seized the opportunity to escape with your sister-" Ebisu continued.

"-who has fallen unconscious" finished Genma.

"You guys-" said Gai as he moves towards his teammates-

'Oh ohh' thought Genma before-

-being strangled *ahem* embraced by Gai "I don't know how to say thank you"

"We are a team Gai" said Ebisu.

"Your family is our families too" said Genma

ooooo

End

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A/N: Yes, Mai share the same kekkei genkai with Mei Terumi.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Mai's age will be the same as Inuzuka Hana, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Izumi.

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Hokage Office

"Good job Team Chōza, another mission completed" said Minato to Ebisu, Gai and Genma "You may leave now"

"THANK YOU, HOKAGE-SAMA!" said Gai with great enthusiasm before dashing off to the streets of Konoha.

Minato chuckled as he heard a distinctive shouting

"MY-"

"BEA-"

"YOU-"

"TI-"

"FULL-"

"MAI-"

"WATCH WHERE YOU ARE RUNNING !!!" an angry shopkeeper was shouting.

Minato nodded towards Ebisu and Genma, who were still in his office, looking at the back of their teammate from the window-

-before he teleported himself onto a tree near his home, only to hear

"NII-SAN-"

"IS-"

"BACK!" Gai was at the front of his house.

From the house, a sound of running feet was heard before the door was opened, revealing a beaming Mai, holding a rice ball.

"Nii-san!" Mai jumped towards Gai who caught her and twirled her around, causing Mai to shriek with laughter.

Minato loved to watch this scene; it has been a tradition for Gai to run towards his sister the moment he finished reporting his mission and Mai always greet him with a big smile.

Once Gai put her down, Mai showed the rice ball "Look nii-san, look! Mai make rice-ball!"

"Oooh? Can nii-san taste it?"

"Here"

Gai took a bite and shouted "This is the most delicious rice balls in the world!"

Mai beamed proudly "Really?"

Gai showed his thumb-up pose and said "Really!"

Minato turned as he sensed Kushina standing next to him.

"They are a pair, huh" said Kushina as she looked at Gai and Mai with great fondness.

"Yup, seeing them makes me think about kids...our kids" Minato glanced at Kushina.

"Really? Well maybe tonight... ... ... (some X-rated remarks)" teased Kushina.

Minato blushed.

ooooo

Once they have thanked Kushina and Minato (Kushina was taking care of Mai while Gai was on a mission, no one could object to the notion), Gai and Mai left for their home.

ooooo

 _Flashback_

ooooo

 _Kakashi has just left his daily brooding in front of Memorial Stone when he saw Gai carrying heavy packages and delivered them to the house nearby._

 _Kakashi has heard about Gai's sister; after all, a good shinobi always, always keeping up with the current gossips *err* news._

 _Kakashi observed as Gai was paid for his service (_ A/N: I know, that sounds wrong to me too _), he realized that Gai was taking extra jobs so he could rent a bigger place for him and his sister._

 _An idea popped in his head._

 _'I am going to regret this' Kakashi said to himself as he approached Gai._

 _"Gai" called Kakashi._

 _Gai turned and cried "My rival! Are you here to challenge me?!"_

 _Kakashi cringed inwardly as he said "i heard you are looking for a place for you and your sister, you can stay in my house"_

 _'It was too big for me, anyway' Kakashi thought of his family's house, and the memory of his father..._

 _"Are you sure, Kakashi?" asked Gai solemnly, knowing what had taken place in the house._

 _"Yes, you and your sister need it anyway"_

 _"I'll pay fair rent!"_

 _"There's no need for that"_

 _"No! We are rivals! I won't be able to fight you fairly if I accept your charity!" said Gai earnestly._

 _'That would be lovely' thought Kakashi but he relented "Fine"_

 _"I'll come with Mai tomorrow!"_

 _ooooo_

 _'Regretting already' groaned Kakashi as the scrapping and argument continues._

 _"Mai needs a bigger space" said Gain followed by the sound of something being pushed._

 _"No. Nii-san big" said an equally stubborn younger sister, followed by the same sound._

 _ooooo_

 _Early that morning, Gai appeared carrying Mai on his shoulder. Once introductory has been made, Kakashi showed Gai the rooms in the house; one big family room on the ground floor (where his father took his life) and three rooms upstairs._

 _Gai said he could only paid for one room, so he took the family room to be shared with Mai, with a screen partition as divider._

 _Gai placed the partition so Mai could have a bigger space, but Mai disagree stating that Gai needed a bigger space._

 _After listening to the feud for some time, an irate Kakashi stomped downstairs and head to the room, drag the partition to the middle of the room and said "There! Both of you now have equal space!" before storming off._

ooooo

So now, Gai, Kakashi and Mai are roomies.

ooooo

End


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Wow...I am touched by the responses I've received, thank you **American** **Jynx** , **Auryn** **Slytherin** , **Brutalbist** , **grimlock987** , **lagoon** **childe** , **Lemonkittylove** , **Petra0suomesta** and **Xyllara**.

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Oh, this goes without saying, I don't own Naruto

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Kakashi was guarding a pregnant Kushina when he heard a pitter-patter sound-

He sighed.

"Found you! Let's play!" said Mai happily.

'I didn't know I was playing hide and seek' thought Kakashi though outwardly he said "I'm working"

"Ohhhh" pouted Mai before she smiled and ran off-

-and ran back to him, settling herself next to him and read her book.

Kakashi looked at her and sighed 'When I'm not working, the brother will hound me. When I'm working, the sister followed me...I've already got ninkens (ninja dogs)...Minato sensei so not helping. They just smile and said 'awww, how cute'. I'm an ANBU for God's sake!' Kakashi ranting to himself-

"Awww, how cute" Kakashi turned and saw Kushina, with her chin resting on her hand, smiling at him "If you weren't in your ANBU uniform, I would have taken a photo"

'Oh dear God, NO!' Kakashi was horrified at the prospect.

Mai was reading happily, oblivious to the conversation between Kushina and Kakashi when suddenly, she turned, her face lit up-

"Gai's back" said a smiling Kushina, followed by a-

"...MAI! NII-SAN'S HOME!"

A green whirlwind arrived at the gate followed by a 'ommph' when Mai jumped towards Gai.

While looking at the scene, Kushina turned to Kakashi and said "It was good that you opened your home to them, thank you Kakashi"

Kakashi grunted 'Sure, and now my privacy's gone' he mourned at the lost privacy though truth to be told, the house was no longer silence and the memory (of his father) attached to the room began to feel dull as it was replaced with two blinding smiles...'I'm going to be blind soon' thought Kakashi sardonically.

ooooo

(10th October)

"Kiku-obāsan, when Kushina-obāsan going to come back with baby Naruto?" asked Mai.

Kiku was a caretaker of Minato when he was young and she offered to help him and Kushina taking care of Naruto.

"Soon, Mai-chan" said Kiku gently "Now help me carrying this. When they come home, they'll find everything ready, and Kushina can rest while-

"-we take care of baby Naruto" said Mai cheerfully-

-when Minato appeared with a baby, looking very grim.

"Minato?" asked Kiku "where's Kushina?"

"We were attacked" said Minato succinctly "This is Naruto, please take care of him Kiku-bāsan, I have to get back to Kushina-"

Kiku hold Naruto with one hand and pat Minato with the other hand "Don't worry about Naruto-chan"

Minato nodded his thanks and went to get his Hokage robe before teleported to where Kushina is.

ooooo

Later, Minato returned with Kushina. Kiku put Naruto next to her and left mother and son alone (Mai felt asleep on the sofa).

ooooo

Minato came back and carried both his son and his wife somewhere. Kiku had a bad feeling in her heart

ooooo

Kiku's worst fears were realized when Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen appeared early morning, carrying Naruto. As she took Naruto, she remembered her last words to Minato, _"Don't worry about Naruto-chan"_

ooooo

(Mid-morning, 11th November)

"Hokage-sama! Emergency!" announced an ANBU.

Hiruzen followed his ANBU to Minato's house; what greeted him was a small carnage. Kakashi was crouching very low, growling fiercely. Gai was carrying his sister and protecting Kiku, who was carrying Naruto. Taking up the rear guard was Uchiha Shisui, his tantō out and readied. Surrounding them was a mob of people, many already has fallen as Hiruzen could see... ... ... _is that lava I'm seeing?_

What is going on here?" asked Hiruzen in a very stern voice.

"We are finishing Yondaime's job!"

"She's harboring the monster!"

"That girl is a freak!!" Gai's eyes gone uncharacteristically narrowed and dangerous, and so did Kakashi's.

"Hokage-sama, may I?" asked Shisui.

Hiruzen nodded.

"I was on the way back when I heard a ruckus" reported Shisui "When I investigated, I saw a mob gathering around the house, I think Kakashi and Gai intended to bring these three (indicating Kiku, Mai and Naruto) to safety but they were quickly overwhelmed by these people, that's when the girl cried and lava appeared, killing a few of them and caused the rest to take few steps backwards. I took the opportunity to jump so I could assist them, that's when you arrived"

Hiruzen nodded and called two of his ANBU (i.e his son and daughter-in-law, i.e Konohamaru's parents) before giving his order "Escort them to my house, let them eat and rest there for a while. I'll deal with them later tonight"

The ANBU nodded and left with their charges.

"Now for the rest of you-" Hiruzen's voice became sterner and colder "I know you are grieving, so I'm going to let your action slide by. But from now on, information regarding the Kyūbi is an S-class secret. Anyone who knowingly or unknowing passed the information with intention to harm, will be executed swiftly, no pardon"

"How about the girl? She killed our brothers!" cried one of them.

Hiruzen cocked his head to one side and replied "She was responding to the threats instigated by all of you. I failed to see how that is punishable. Now move!"

Hiruzen stood there like a rock until one person took his leave (while grumbling at the 'unfairness'), followed by the others. Once the last person has left, Hiruzen dropped his shoulder and shook his head 'I'll do my best Minato"

ooooo

End

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	4. Chapter 4

Yo! Thank you **BlueJae3** , **Dakrakboy** , **Dreamy-Girl2016** , **ReaderKei** and **Starstis** for your supports =D.

Mai was crying uncontrollably: first she heard that Minato and Kushina had died, then she was delivered news that broke her heart.

"I'm sorry Mai, but Kiku and Naruto have to go into hiding, for their own safety. I can hide the two of them in my clan, but not with you, Mai" Hiruzen explained gently.

Mai continued crying for a while before asking in-between hiccups "Can- can I k- kiss Na- Naruto-chan?"

Kiku smiled and said "Sure, don't worry Mai-chan. You'll see Naruto-chan soon"

ooooo

Mai was about to cry again as she saw the back of Kiku (carrying Naruto) when Hiruzen quickly averted her attention "Look Mai, this is a form to enter Academy"

"Academy?"

"School for shinobi, you want to become shinobi, Mai?"

"Like nii-san ?"

"Yes, like your nii-san"

"I want to be like nii-san" said Mai, Gai was beaming so wide with pride that Kakashi feared his face will crack soon.

"Then, why don't you go take some nice photo to be put on this form? and buy books?" Hiruzen surreptitiously attached book and cloth vouchers along with the form.

"Okay, jiji" said Mai as she showed Gai the form "Look nii-san, look! I can go school now!"

'Crafty old man' thought Kakashi as he realized something 'Mai will leave here all excited before _we_ 've got to tell her it's night now, and she has to sleep before tomorrow, so _we_ 'll be the one who has to deal with her crying...again"

Hiruzen looked suspiciously innocent as he looked at Kakashi and smiled discreetly as he figured out Kakashi's train-of-thoughts.

As they were about to leave, Hiruzen gave his advice "Kakashi, Gai, what Mai did this morning might strike fear in some of them. Better not to leave her alone"

"Hait, Hokage-sama"

ooooo

As it turned out, Gai and Kakashi had little to worry about.

It's true, a number of people were a bit fearful around Mai, but none of them tried anything-

\- could be because due to the Kyūbi's attack, a great number of requests for D-rank missions poured in the Mission Room. Since the missions were within Konoha, the Hokage allowed Mai to tag-along (she even helped!) seeing that the Academy would not be opened until one month after the attack,

\- moreover, since Gai belonged to Team Chōza, he naturally had the support of Akimichi clan,

\- and hence, the supports from Nara and Yamanaka clans.

\- and of course, Sarutobi clan,

\- additionally, since Kakashi is an ANBU, a Captain ANBU no less,

\- many ANBU felt it's their responsibility to keep an eye for the little girl.

So basically, there's no way anyone could take an action against Mai without the other knows about it-

\- or without being burnt alive by the girl's kekkei genkai.

In retrospect, this also kept a certain old War-Hawk from gaining access to Mai, despite he greatly desired her (her kekkei genkai, actually) to be part of Root.

ooooo

A seven years old Mai was huffing and puffing as she jogged on a lone street in Konoha. Despite of her Kekkei Genkai, Gai advised her not to neglect the physical aspect of combat, stating that it is faster to kick than to perform handseals in order to modulate chakra for ninjutsu attack.

As she was jogging, she heard barks; she turned and saw Inuzuka Hana running with her ninkens-

'Oh no you not' thought Mai as she picked up her pace.

Mai and Hana (and the dogs) were racing when few things happened;

\- Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Izumi suddenly appeared from a dango shop,

\- the distance between them was too close,

\- Itachi saw and tried to pull Izumi back,

\- but Izumi was already tackled down by Mai and Hana,

\- instead, Itachi only got the dango packaging.

Once the commotions abated, Itachi was given weird looks by three girls and dogs alike-

 _'You saved dango but not your girlfriend?! Not cool Itachi..._

"Urm, that's not what happened" Itachi tried to explain.

Cool stared.

"I tried to pull her back, I did" said Itachi earnestly.

Seeing the cool Uchiha Itachi becoming flustered was too much to handle; Mai laughed first, followed by Hana while Izumi looked abashed.

"Sorry Izumi" said Mai and Hana once they can get the laughters within their control.

"Are you hurt?" asked Mai while Hana checked on her ninkens.

"No, what were you guys doing, running like that?" Izumi half-admonishing her classmates.

Mai and Hana looked sheepish.

"Well, I supposed our spirits of youths got the better of us" said Mai.

Itachi eyes widened a bit.

"What?" asked a bewildered Izumi.

"That's what my nii-san always said, and he's never wrong" Mai ended up with a thumb-up pose, and a grin.

Itachi's eye twitched a little bit.

Hana bit her lower lip to stop herself from laughing while Izumi wasn't sure how to react.

The moment was broken when they heard-

"MAI! YOUR NII-SAN'S BACK!"

Mai's face immediately lit up and turned to them "That's my brother, see ya!" and took off.

Izumi look at her, and then look at Hana-

Itachi recognized the look "I don't think that's a good idea-"

Hana (and her dogs) and Izumi took off and followed Mai.

Itachi stared at them and sighed.

ooooo

When Hana and Izumi arrived, they saw Mai engaging in a taijutsu spar with a male teenager with bowl-cut hair, thick eyebrows and green jumpsuit, whom they presumed was her brother.

"That's good Mai, your kicks and punches now have more power in them" said her brother as his eyes glittering with stars before embracing Mai "Your spirit of youth is burning brighter and brighter, Mai!"

"This is thanks to your teachings, nii-san!" said Mai followed by a display of sunset and lava eruption on their background.

"What- ... ... ..." Hana and Izumi gaped, they cannot find words to describe what are they seeing, nor could they looked away.

When Itachi arrived (he was walking sedately), he sighed and injected a bit of his chakra into Hana and Izumi "As I was about to say, I don't think it's a good idea to peep on your friend" and inwardly he added 'especially if that friend is a sister to Maito Gai'

"What was that?" Hana and Izumi asked simultaneously.

Itachi shrugged "No one knows. It's one of those things you have to accept without looking for logical reasoning, or you'll go stark crazy trying to figure that out"

Itachi turned to Hana and said "I think your dogs are broken"

Hana turned and saw her ninkens stood like a statue "HAIMARU BROTHERS!!!!"

ooooo

End

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	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Thank you **danceofshadows** , **kanna-Yamamoto** , **MarishkaTheUnderdog** and **Willow310** for your supports.

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Hokage Office

Sarutobi Hiruzen was looking at the files in front of him when he noticed a presence, an ANBU that he had summoned.

"Ah, you are here. I believe this is for you" Hiruzen said with a smile.

The ANBU opend the file and saw Shinobi Registry Forms of three Kunoichi (female shinobi).

"Hokage-sama?"

"These are the graduates this year. I want you to become their sensei"

"Sensei?"

"Yui, you are one of my best ANBU; you've trained many ANBU rookies and they have done you proud. I figured, with all that experience, what's better way than to share it with the next generation? Besides, I heard that since your marriage to ANBU-Commander, you wished to quit to avoid conflict of interest"

"That is correct, Hokage-sama"

"So, are you willing to become a sensei?"

Yui thought for a while before answering "Before I answer, may I request something?"

"I'm listening" said Hiruzen.

"Regarding the Genin Test... ... ..."

ooooo

Academy

"Team 3 will be Inuzuka Hana, Maito Mai and Uchiha Izumi" announced Kato-sensei.

The three of them looked at each other and smiled. Ever since that day in front of dango shop, their friendships were improving, not best of friends but more than just acquaintances.

"All of you, wait for your sensei here after lunch, except for Team 3. Your sensei asked you to wait at Training Ground 7 at 2 pm. I wish you all the best in your future" Kato-sensei finished his speech with a smile before leaving the room.

"Lunch?" Hana asked her new teammates.

"Lunch" answered Izumi and Mai.

ooooo

Training Ground 7

Yui was in her ANBU uniform as she scanned her potential students. They appeared to be chatting amiably, with a bit of giggles and laughters, meaning that they were comfortable with each other.

'So far so good' Yui liked what she's seeing 'but I need to see more if I were to be your sensei'

Haimaru Brothers began to growl, "Someone's here" warned Hana.

Mai and Izumi stopped talking and began taking defensive posed; not one of them had any equipments since the were informed of only graduates meeting and nothing about team meeting.

An ANBU jumped down in front of them and starred at them for a while before saying "Traditionally, I should introduced myself and get to know a little bit about yourselves, but I decided to do the test first"

"Test?" asked Izumi.

"Correct. Sorry to burst your bubbles, but none of you are a genin, _yet._ You all have one final test before you can truly called yourself a genin. _I will be your test._ The rule is simple, fight me. Let me gage your worthiness. If I deemed you fit to be my students, I'll take off this mask and retired from ANBU" said Yui as she prepared for an attack with two kunai on her hands.

Mai attacked first followed by attacks from Hana and Haimaru Brothers. Yui blocked the attacks with relative eased and threw all of them away before turning to Izumi (who seemed paralyzed on the spot) and asked "How about you?" as she walked forwards towards Izumi with intent to kill-

" **Lava** **Wall**!" a wall made from lava appeared from the ground, effectively stopping Yui while Hana jumped towards Izumi and pulled her away.

Yui turned and saw that the three of them had regrouped, inwardly, she was impressed 'but not good enough' she thought.

"I'm surprised you saved her when all she did was standing like a tree stump"

"We are a pack" answered Hana.

"Those who abandoned their friends are worse than scums, and not very youthful" said Mai.

Yui looked at Mai and smiled (not that they can see) 'Kakashi-senpai will be horrified to hear that his motto was given a dose of Gai's youthfulness'

"Final round, then" Yui said in a steeled voice. She replaced her kunai with short blades in each hand.

Seeing the blades seemed to wake Izumi from stupor. She turned to her teammates and whispered her plan.

"Are you sure?" asked Mai.

"Positive" Izumi answered by activating her sharingan.

Hana began to crouch on all four, looking a bit feral.

" **Great** **Fireball**!" shouted Izumi as she released fireballs from her mouth and aimed them into Yui's direction.

Yui jumped away to avoid and faced Hana. The fights were intensed as Mai tried to look for an opening.

Yui kicked Hana and Izumi away when Mai shouted " **Lava** **Prison** " and four walls made from Lava emerged from ground and surrounded her.

"Good" said a voice from behind. Hana, Izumi and Mai turned and saw Yui; they turned to the prison and saw that it was empty except for a log.

'She switched at the last moment' thought Hana, Izumi and Mai.

Yui took off her mask, looked at her student and said "My name is Yui, and from now on, you'll be my students and I will be your sensei. Team 3 now is officially Team Yui.

Izumi gave a sigh of relief; her chakra was comparatively less than people of her age thus she was always careful not to use her sharingan for too long.

"While I would like to say more, I was informed that one of you is needed at the hospital-" the news surprised the genins, "-so I'll see you here, tomorrow, at 9am"

ooooo

"I wonder what Yui-sensei means" pondered Mai.

"Me too. I don't think any of my relatives is at the hospital now" said Hana.

"So is mine" added Izumi.

"Mai-" Mai turned and saw Gai. She smiled and ran towards her brother "Nii-san! I passed! I passed"

Gai smiled a bit before he said in solemn face "We need to go to the hospital, Kiku-san-"

ooooo

End

ooooo

A/N: Hana, Izumi and Mai are about 10 years-old in this chapter. I read that Izumi got her sharingan quite early in her age but she cannot use it for long due to insufficient chakra.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Thank you **avert 1523** , **Karmakeddon** , **kayna96** , **Slytherin's One True Prince** and **WarriorsSoul** for your supports

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Yeah, I don't own Naruto.

ooooo

"Mai, we need to go to the hospital, Kiku-san is sick" Gai told Mai gently.

Mai's face changed and she nodded.

ooooo

"Kiku-obāsan" said Mai gently as she hold Kiku's left hand and bring it closer to her face.

Kiku's eyes fluttered for a while, before they landed on Mai's face, noting the Forehead Protector on her forehead, and she smiled.

Kiku's hand hold Mai's face, before saying "Mai-...chan... ... ...take... ...care of... ... ... ...Naruto-chan" her hand dropped.

"Kiku-obāsan, no!" Mai grabbed her and cried. Gai stroke his sister's hair, trying to console her. Kakashi stood at the corner, watching the whole scene quietly-

ooooo

 _Flashback_

ooooo

 _"How's Mai-chan, Kakashi?" asked Kiku when Kakashi was delivering some goods for Kiku and Naruto._

 _"She's in Academy now. Here, I've got a photo on her first day" Kakashi showed Kiku a photo of Mai and Gai, grinning widely in front of the Academy with both of their thumbs up._

 _Kiku's eyes watered as she looked at the photo, and she smiled widely. She kept the photo in an album._

ooooo

 _"Here-" said Kiku as she gave Kakashi a parcel._

 _"What's this?"_

 _"A yukata for Mai" said Kiku._

ooooo

 _Mai wore the yukata that Kiku had sewn at Konoha Festival where they took the opportunity to take photos together; first was just Kiku, Mai and Naruto, followed by Mai and Gai. Lastly was all of them._

 _Initially, Kakashi just stood at the side, guarding Kiku and Naruto when Mai turned to him and said "Come on Kakashi, you are family too"_

 _That had become a tradition for them._

ooooo

 _Kakashi has just gotten back from a long-grueling mission when the Hokage informed him that Kiku was in the hospital. He left immediately._

ooooo

 _"Do you want me to bring Mai, Kiku-san?" asked Kakashi._

 _Kiku shook her head "She's having an exam soon. I can wait...but, could you bring me the album on my bedside?"_

 _Kakashi nodded and went to retrieve it._

ooooo

 _When Kakashi gave Kiku her album, she opened it slowly, revealing pictures of Mai and Naruto. She fingered them gently, smiling as she reminiscing the memory behind each picture-_

 _"Thank you Kakashi" said Kiku gently._

ooooo

 _"She's dying Kakashi" Hiruzen answered bluntly when Kakashi asked about Kiku._

 _"So we still keep it from Mai?"_

 _"She doesn't want Mai to get distracted. She said to bring Mai after her final Genin Test. She insisted on that. Are you going to deny a dying person's wish, Kakashi?"_

 _"... ... ...i just hope she can last that long"_

 _"Me too, Kakashi" said Hiruzen heavily._

ooooo

 _Flashback End_

ooooo

Now, looking at Kiku, lying one the bed, her face looking very serene, Kakashi said quietly "Have a good rest, Kiku-san"

ooooo

The funeral for Kiku-san was a small affair, attended by Mai, who was holding hand with Naruto and Gai, Kakashi, Hiruzen and a handful members from Sarutobi clan.

'Don't worry about Naruto, Kiku-san. Thank you for everything' said Mai as she laid flowers on Kiku's grave

ooooo

End

ooooo

A/N: Sorry for a short chapter.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Yosh! My spirits of youth was dampened by flu...sorry for the delay. Before that, thank you **CANT** **HANDLE** **THIS** **VANILLA** , **deathwearsblack** , **fleurprocompta** , **onyxorphe** , **Sandmaster** , **Shadowjr420** and **Tzar992** for your supports.

ooooo

FYI, Naruto's not mine

ooooo

"YOSH! Let's go jogging to rekindle our spirits of youth!" cried Gai

"YOSH!" followed Mai.

"Yosh!" shouted Naruto.

Inside the house, Kakashi was glaring balefully at the three figures. He arrived at Konoha at 2am in the morning from a simple courier mission when he was ambushed thus delaying his return, and reached home at 3am after reporting to Hokage (it was an S-ranked courier mission after all).

Now at 7am, he was awakened by three idiots in bright colored clothes (Gai-green; Mai-pink; Naruto-orange) when he would like to sleep longer.

He shuffled to the bathroom, took a peek at Naruto's bedroom and regretted immediately when he saw the mess. Then he ambled to the kitchen downstairs for a cup of coffee.

Ever since Kiku passed away, his house had turned into a Mad House. MAD HOUSE!

Naruto began to live with them (he took the smallest bedroom upstairs) while Gai took the other bedroom, making the room downstairs belonging to Mai.

With Naruto's loud 'Dattebayo!' and Gai's and Mai's 'Yosh!' and 'Youth', it's a wonder he didn't go stark crazy.

When he reached kitchen, he saw a breakfast tray with a note and food on them; a bowl of rice, a fried egg with soy sauce shaped like spiral (made by Naruto) and miso soup with eggplant, _his favorite_. The note said 'Welcome Home' in Mai's handwiting with a spiral sign (he assumed it was from Naruto) and a picture of tortoise (who else but Gai?).

As he looked at the note, Kakashi smiled.

ooooo

Izumi was sitting by the lakeside alone, reflecting.

She has been a Genin for almost six months now and after doing many missions, it became clear to her that in her team, Hana had the best physical prowess whereas Mai's strength was her Kekkei Genkai. Yui-sensei fought primarily using short-blades (like Hela in Thor Ragnarok).

'Where do I fit in?' thought Izumi.

'What's my strength? I have one fire technique, sharingan-' at the thought of sharingan, Izumi was very thankful to have awakened it since it saved her life a couple of times '-and that's all' Izumi thought despondently.

It was time like this that she missed Itachi; he had been her strength and her inspiration. Sometimes she felt the distance between her and Itachi was too far away for her to catch up to him.

'No! I can't let this brings me down' resolved Izumi as shook her head.

"Is something wrong?" Izumi turned and saw Itachi.

"I thought you have a mission?" asked Izumi.

"Done" replied Itachi "Are you alright?"

Izumi opened her mouth to explain, then she decided against it. Instead, she asked "How come you are so strong?"

Itachi eyes flickered from Izumi's troubled face to the lake, he thought for a while before answering slowly "I never thought myself as strong. I always knew that there is someone who is stronger than me. So I never allowed myself to get complacent"

"..." Izumi was quiet.

"Even when I got my sharingan, I always think, how to make my skills better? How can my sharingan elevated my existing skills?"

Izumi frowned "What do you mean?"

"I believe that having sharingan does not guarantee greatness, but it could elevate you to greatness. Sharingan is a tool with many benefits, but instead of making a person a better shinobi, most people with sharingan (ahem Uchiha ahem) are happy to let the sharingan dictates their growths"

Izumi was quiet...it's quite true. She had seen how Hana ran with Haimaru Brothers and Mai with her brother. She remembered her conversation with Hana and Mai.

ooooo

 _Flashback_

ooooo

 _"What are you reading?" asked Izumi when she saw Hana._

 _Hana looked up "Oh, this" she shown a thick book with title "Veterinarian Basics: Dog's Anatomy and Physiology"_

 _"You want to be a vet?"_

 _"If I passed the Tests" said Hana._

 _"How many tests?"_

 _"Depends, first there's Basic Animal Tests, theory and practical, then there's Nin-Animal Tests (e.g ninja-cat or ninja-dog)... then ... ... ..." Hana began to ramble enthusiastically about the tests._

 _"Wow...I thought you would be working with dog only since it's in your blood"_

 _Hana smiled "Not necessarily, my great-aunt had a bad chemistry with dogs but not with horses, she understands them...so now she's one of the best Horse-Whisperer in the Land of Fire"_

 _"Why do you want to become a vet?" asked Izumi with great interest._

 _Hana looked at Haimaru Brothers and her eyes shined "I guess, I just want to make sure that no harm will come to them"_

ooooo

 _"567, 568, ... ... ... 600!" said Mai triumphantly as she was practicing her kicks and punches._

 _"Wow Mai, that's amazing!" cried Izumi._

 _"Oh, hi Izumi" greeted Mai as she prepared to cool down her body._

 _"Why are you training so hard, Mai? You've got Kekkei Genkai, not one, but two!"_

 _"My nii-san said that Kekkei Genkai used a lot of chakra, so I need to train more. Besides, if my chakra is low, I can still kick butt with my taijutsu. So it's a win-win situation" grinned Mai._

ooooo

 _Flashback ended_

ooooo

Izumi realized her teammates never stopped improving themselves, they aimed for something that'll define who they are without the stigma of a clan or ability.

'Itachi's right. I have let my skills slide just because my sharingan had saved me many times. I still don't know what I am capable of doing, but I think for now, I'm going back to basics, then going from there, maybe Yui-sensei can help' thought Izumi.

"Izumi?" asked Itachi seeing that Izumi spaced out for too long.

Izumi turned to Itachi and said "Thank you Itachi, come, let me treat you to dango"

"Err, there's no need-"

"Please-" asked Izumi "-besides, I'm going to be busy from now on. I don't think I'm going to see you for a while until I've figured out my role in my team"

Itachi looked at before saying "Alright"

ooooo

Shisui was looking for Itachi when he saw him and Izumi walking out of a Dango shop, chatting before Izumi waved him goodbye, turned and walked away.

Smiling cheekily, Shisui sneaked up to Itachi and said in a teasing voice "Did you get dumped? Aww..poor Itachi"

Itachi looked embarrassed and said "No, we are...still okay, I think"

"Aha! A confession! Come on Itachi, confess to Big Bro Shisui" said Shisui, outwardly in a cheerful manner but inwardly, he had made a resolution.

ooooo

End

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	8. Chapter 8

Naruto was created by Kishimoto-sensei.

ooooo

"You want us to do what?!" asked Mai and Hana in disbelief.

"Hit me with your jutsu and Kekkei Genkai" replied Izumi.

"Why?"

"Well, you know I've been trying to improve myself. Then I realized something, none of us use genjutsu. And you want to know something? One of sharingan's ability is to detect genjutsu! So I thought, why not improving my genjutsu so our team will be more solid? Hence, I came up with an idea of using genjutsu to amplify both of your attacks. However, I can only achieve that by understanding how both of your attacks work. Don't worry, I've talked with sensei, she agreed to my idea" explained Izumi.

Hana and Mai turned to Yui-sensei who nodded her head and said "I believe that there's a merit to her idea. This would be helpful when we face many opponents at once"

Hana and Mai looked at each other with uncertainty before nodded their heads.

Long story short, Izumi later was hospitalized for a week.

ooooo

Konoha Hospital

"Don't worry you guys" Izumi tried to placate her worried-and-angry teammates "I've remembered all the pains and all the burns. My jutsu should be ready to go when I'm out of here"

They both glared at her and angry at themselves.

"Come one, smile...pleasssseee" Izumi put on her best puppy face.

Hana faltered "We should not have listened to you"

"It's not fun watching your teammate writhed in pain because of your Kekkei Genkai" said Mai with pained expression.

Izumi's face fell "I'm sorry but I need it. How could I cast a genjutsu that will amplify your attacks without knowing how they work exactly"

"Is that really important to you?" asked Hana.

Izumi was quiet for a while before answering "Yes. We've been a team for six months now, I realized that both of you carried more weights than I did when we were attacked- please, don't deny it, I know it. So I need to find my strength, no, it's not the sharingan. At the moment, my search led to this genjutsu. It may not much since it is more of supporting jutsu than main attack, at least with this genjutsu, I know that I am taking a step forward. Mai, Hana, I'm sorry for the pain I've caused both of you"

Hana looked at Mai; Mai's face was still stricken but she said "I guess, if it is really that important to you"

"Yeah, but I don't think this can be repeated in the future" warned Hana.

"No promise, buy I'll try" said Izumi.

ooooo

Hokage Office

"Hokage-sama" greeted Yui.

"Ahh Yui, I heard your student was admitted to the hospital?" asked Hiruzen; while his tone was casual, his eyes were scrutinizing Yui critically.

"Hait" said Yui "Izumi was trying to develop new jutsu which required his teammates to attack her"

Hiruzen eyebrows raised a bit, he was interested but it was not proper for him to ask "I see. So, do you think they'll be ready for Chūnin Exam?"

"Skill-wise, they are almost there. But I would like for them to gain more experience before entering the exam" answered Yui.

"Very well, you may leave"

Yui bowed and left the office.

ooooo

Yui observed the scene carefully; she noted the angers, the worries and the regrets. Those were the same feelings she was having.

She wondered if she had made a mistake by indulging Izumi's request. Logically, she knew she did not. _But what with this guilt feeling_?

ooooo

Itachi was down on his knee, panting when Shisui asked "I heard Izumi is in the hospital, aren't you going to visit her?"

"I already sent flowers"

"That's all?!!!" Shisui looked scandalized.

Itachi shook his head "She said we'll meet again once she figured out her role in her team. If I meet her now, I'll break her words"

"Awww...you are a softie after all" teased Shisui.

Itachi glared and their spar resume.

ooooo

The ANBU-Commander, Kuma was looking at his wife before he decided that enough is enough.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing" said Yui, not wanting to tell her husband.

He gave her a look 'cut the BS'

Yui frowned 'This is my BS!'

He arched her eyebrows 'You forgot our rule?'

 _We promised to tell each other the truth even if it hurts...unless it's mission related_

Yui sighed 'Fine' before telling what had happened "... ... ... I guess I'm trying to figure out why I feel guilty"

"Maybe because your students still genins?" said Kuma.

Yui raised her eyebrows 'Meaning?'

"Most ANBUs are jōnins, so they are experienced. Your students are not...skill- or mental-wise"

Yui's eyes widened, she smiled and kiss her husband on his temple "Thank you"

ooooo

End

ooooo

A/N: For those who noticed, Itachi's line was inspired from Bakuman.


	9. Chapter 9

Konoha Gate

"Alright, before we go, there's something I want to say-" said Yui to her students as they prepared to embark on an escort mission

"First, I owe all of you an apology (they looked surprised), I should have dealt with it better. As a result, you hurt your friends, despite it _was_ for a good reason-"

"-Our missions so far were clear cut; we either fought bandits or none. However, as you go down the path of shinobi, you'll learn that not all missions will be like that. Sometimes, accident happens. Sometimes, things are no longer black and white, they are just grey-"

"-When that happened I want you to remember one thing (they looked at her seriously), _Don't shut yourself up, find someone you can talk to_ " Yui looked at the face of her students.

Yui waited for a moment to let the message sunk in before she said "Let's go"

ooooo

Naruto looked forlorn from his hiding place as Mai-nee-san began to leave.

He liked having nee-san around, he got someone to play with, even if it involved having his butt being kicked around.

Naruto looked around, he saw people bustling aroung with their business, but none seemed to notice him, or they pretended not to notice him.

 _It hurts._ Sometimes he wanted to shout to them 'I'm here!!!!' just so they acknowledged him.

At least no one is being aggressivej to him. Not after what nee-san did, Naruto giggled.

ooooo

 _Flashback_

ooooo

 _Naruto was running around with his lollipop when he ran straight into someone. He fell back on his bottom and the lollipop fell on the ground._

 _"Look what we have here" a voice sneered._

 _Naruto looked up and saw a man he stumbled into. He immediately stood up and said "Ahhh...sorry ji-san" and ran to collect his sweet when a foot stamped on it-_

 _Naruto paused and his eyes immediately watered. Nee-san bought that..._

 _"Awww...it's going to cry" the man snickered-_

 _"Excuse me...what do you think you're doing?" asked Mai._

 _"Teaching it a lesson"_

 _"It?" echoed Mai softly as the temperature in the surrounding area began to increase._

 _"You as a shinobi should know what it is" spat the man._

 _Mai looked at him and smiled as she walked towards him, leaving behind a lava footprints, and said "Of course I know WHO is HIM, so should you and everyone else here. Hokage has made it clear, or do you need a reminder?" she asked sweetly._

 _The man's eyes bulged as he looked at the lava footprints. He remembered-_

 _"You-" whatever he wanted to say was forgotten as he looked into her eyes; he saw a painful death by fire_

 _"Me?-" Mai asked innocently "I believe you owe him-" she pointed at Naruto "-an apology and hmmm...ten sweets, that should suffice, right Naruto?"_

 _Naruto nodded._

 _The man looked at Mai, and then at Naruto, and then at the crowd, an then at Mai, Naruto, crowd, Mai, Naruto, crowd, Mai-_

 _He passed out._

 _"That's not fun" pouted Mai. She began to carry him to the hospital (despite what happened, she's still a Konoha shinobi and it won't do to leave him out here unattended)-_

 _-when a silver-hair ANBU appeared and said "I've got this. Here-" he gave her two coupons for Ichiraku Ramen "-curtesy of Hokage-sama. Just don't do it again"_

 _Mai nodded. This meant that Hokage was aware of her action; the coupons were his way of saying thank you for protecting Naruto while Kakashi's last sentence served as a warning._

 _Mai heaved a relief sigh; she had been prepared to take responsibility for her action._

 _Mai turned to Naruto and said "Now...who wants Ichiraku Ramen?"_

 _"Oh...me! Me!" shouted Naruto happily as they walked to the shop._

ooooo

 _Flashback End_

ooooo

Naruto was beaming now as he remembered that Mai-nee-san promised ramen when she got back.

'Nee-san's awesome' thought Naruto when he remembered something.

ooooo

 _Flashback_

ooooo

 _Naruto entered the kitchen one morning and saw Kakashi and Gai._

 _"Where's-" he yawned "-nee-san?" asked Naruto when he heard-_

 _"A-choom!" followed by "Uh uhhh"_

 _Gai and Kakashi looked at each other before rushing into her room and gaped; small traces of lava were on the wall._

 _"A-choom!" more lava shot out._

 _"A-choom! A-choom! A-CHOOM!!!" at the last sneeze, one side of the walls had melted._

 _Gai took Mai and ran towards the hospital while Kakashi turned to Naruto and said "Go get dressed now"_

ooooo

 _Konoha Hospital_

 _"MY BEAUTIFUL MAI IS SICK!" announced Gai as he arrived at the hospital._

 _The nurse frowned at the noise before saying "If it's just flu, I think you have to wait for a while as-"_

 _"A-Choom!" a snot came out to the chair and it sizzled._

 _The nurse's eyes bulged out, she ordered Gai "Take her out before she burnt down the hospital!" before turning to the phone and said "Code Red! Code Red! A girl with Kekkei Genkai got Chakra Virus Flu!"_

 _Three medic-nins appeared; after some examinations and one injection, one of them turned to Gai and said "She's alright now, but she needs to go somewhere where she can sneeze until all the viruses inside her are gone. I'm sorry but we cannot admit her for the safety of other patients"_

 _Gai nodded, he accepted the medic's opinion but 'Where to go?' he thought when he saw Kakashi with Naruto._

 _He told them what happened._

 _"I'll see what I can do, in the meantime, take her somewhere else" said Kakashi before he took off._

 _Gai turned to Naruto and ordered him to climb on his back "Hold tight" ordered Gai as he began to run to an isolated area._

 _"THIS-"_

 _"IS-"_

 _"FUN!" shrieked Naruto as he laughed happily._

 _Kakashi appeared half-hour later and they took Mai to a barren field._

 _"The soil here was ruined...urm...lava's good for soil, right?" asked Kakashi._

 _Mai gave him a look 'You are turning my snot into fertilizer?'_

 _Kakashi shrugged._

ooooo

 _Flashback End_

ooooo

'I hope Mai-nee-san got sick again' thought Naruto.

ooooo

"What?!" asked Kakashi

"We are sorry Hatake-san. In light of recent events, we had to re-evaluate and decided to increase your house insurance premium due to ahem Maito-san, the boy and the girl" said the Insurance Agent.

"What?" asked Kakashi

"Maito-san is very exitable albeit low risk, the boy is undoubtedly high risk, and the girl has proven to be high risk" explained the Agent.

The agent became very nervous.

"Keep it" said Kakashi darkly.

"Eh?"

"Keep it. I don't want your d* insurance" Kakashi took off.

 _I wonder how much it takes for Tenzō to rebuild my house._

ooooo

End

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	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you **christianleerod** , **flamesofyouth22** , **MissProduce** , **rogue23gw** and **Tobirama666** for you supports =D

ooooo

A solemn Maito Gai entered the house, walked to the garden and saw Mai sitting on the ground, hugging her knees.

Gai sat down next to her and said "Hokage told me"

Tear-streaked face turned to him, hugged him and cried her heart out.

ooooo

 _"Gai" called the Hokage._

 _Gai stayed. He had just returned and finished giving his report._

 _"Team Yui had an encounter with a missing-nin. An S-rank missing nin"_

 _Gai's eyes widened a bit._

 _"They were en-route to Konoha with Lord Oden's family when they were ambushed, twice. They got away from the first attack-"_

 _"-but the second attack-" the Hokage shook his head as he read a report "-the attacker was an S-rank missing-nin from Iwagakure who possessed an Explosion Kekkei Genkai. Fights were ensued and somehow Mai's attacks triggered more explosions. She tried to shield Oden's family with Earth Barrier but when she opened the barrier, they all have died-"_

 _"-I have the autopsy reports of Oden's family, there's nothing she can do as the bombs that killed them were miniscule, and they were bound to trigger-" the Hokage sighed._

 _"-she didn't know about the last part. Kakashi reported that she's beginning to shut everyone's out. So Gai-"_

 _"I'll see what I can do, Hokage-sama" Gai bowed and left the office._

ooooo

"Hokage told me of the autopsy report, too. There's nothing you can do to prevent them from dying. The coroners found miniscule bombs in their blood. As a result, the whole area has to be decontaminated" Gai attempted to joke.

Mai turned away "Still, it was my attacks that triggered the bomb that hurt sensei, Hana and Izumi".

"Not intentionally. But I heard you helped your sensei with the sealing of bodies and carried your friend to Konoha. Your team returned, focus on that-"

"-Learn from this experience, use it to fire your spirit and improve yourself. Find out what had gone wrong and ask yourself, how to correct it" advised Gai as he looked at Mai's downcast face.

"I'll give it a try, nii-san"

"Good! Now come! There's still time before dinner!"

"Eh?" Mai looked bewildered.

"A Youthful Run! Rekindle your Spirit with a Youthful Run!" cried Gai as he took off and dragged Mai.

"Wait-"

"-NII-SAN!!!"

ooooo

From his hiding place, Kakashi facepalm, followed by a smile 'Good for you, Mai'.

ooooo

"I'm sorry, Izumi, Hana" said Mai to both of them at Konoha Hospital.

"What for?" asked Izumi.

"If it's about your attack, you don't have to" said Hana "I should be able to detect them with my nose"

"Sharingan would be easier, if only I trained hard enough to increase my chakra" countered Izumi.

Mai blinked "What?"

"It's my fault for not detecting-" said Hana and Izumi simultaneously before turning to each other and said "Hey!"

Mai laughed, and once she started she could not stop until she cried.

"Feeling better?" asked Izumi.

"Yeah, I guess we each blame ourselves, huh?" said Mai.

"I suppose" Hana answered before turning to Izumi "Anyway, Izumi, your genjutsu was amazing"

"Yeah, Izumi. We escaped without having to fight" added Mai.

Izumi blushed.

ooooo

 _Flashback_

ooooo

 _Team Yui was escorting the family of Lord Oden to Konoha when Haimaru Brothers growled._

 _"Sensei, two groups of four, five hundred meters, non-shinobi" said Hana._

 _"If non-shinobi, may I try sensei?" asked Izumi._

 _Yui nodded._

 _Izumi walked down the path cautiously when she can be seen by the attackers._

ooooo

 _Tani gripped his sword when he heard footsteps; they were promised tons of money if they can kill their targets. With that kind amount of money, he would not have to do this kind of work ever again._

 _A brunette appeared in front of them, then she was gone._

 _Tani blinked._

 _Then he heard it. A sizzling. And pain, lots of pain. On his skin. He looked down and saw steam and lava that melted his skin. Tani screamed._

 _He wasn't the only one._

 _They all screamed in pain and scrambled to thenearest water source to wash whatever was causing the pain off their skin_

ooooo

 _Izumi grinned. Inwardly, she was jumping wildly and shouted 'It works! It works!'._

 _She signed for others to tell them that the path is clear and they could continued with their mission._

ooooo

 _Flashback End_

ooooo

"I guess we have to train harder now" said Mai solemnly.

"We will" swore Hana and Izumi.

ooooo

Yui looked at the scene and smiled 'Now they are ready for Chūnin Exam'.

Her smile turned to sadness as she looked at the message in her hand ' _Lord Oden was murdered_ '

ooooo

End

ooooo


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sensei

ooooo

11 years old Itachi was approaching Izumi and gave her the paper bag "Here, I bought them for you"

Izumi's eyes widened as she opened the bag "That's... ... ...a lot, you want to share with me?"

Itachi sat down and took one stick of dango from the bag.

They both sat on the lakeside, enjoying the dango.

"You'll be Chūnin next time" said Itachi.

Izumi looked at sky and heaved a sigh "It was stupid of me, shouldn't have fought an Akimichi using strength. Mai was smart, she fought Dan, a water-user who was our senior, using lava primarily, leading Dan into false security then defeated him with taijutsu. And Hana! Hana cornered her opponent, gave a chance to surrender before attacking him with her family's jutsu. I- I don't know what triggered me to fight an Akimichi like that" Izumi shook her head.

"So what'll happen to your team now?" asked Itachi.

"Hana, Mai and Izumi-sensei are going for a long-term mission on Border Patrol with one of Mai's nii-san's friends. They asked me, but I declined. I need to train more. So I'm joining another team now until the next Chūnin Exam" Izumi turned to Itachi "How's ANBU treating you?"

Itachi had a far-away look before answering "They are okay"

ooooo

THUMP! THUMP! SWOOOSH! THUMP! THUMP!

"Good! Good! Now prepare for a farewell kick!" shouted Gai as he somersaulted and aimed a high-speed kick onto Mai.

" **Lava** **wall**!" blocked Mai. Gai grabbed a kunai and jammed it on the ground as a break, before backflipping and landed on his feet.

"THAT-" Gai fighting back a tear "WAS GOOD MAI!" following by thumb up pose to a beaming Mai. He hugged her and said "When you got back, I'll teach you how to open your gate"

"Thank you nii-san!" Mai hugged Gai again and took off for her mission.

Gai looked at Mai until she's gone before said "You can come out now".

Izumi appeared and bowed in front of Gai "Gai-san, please train me"

Gai was ecstatic.

ooooo

Kakashi was on the way back from training with his ANBU team when he saw something that made him turned his head twice.

 _Gai, running with Izumi, both wearing green jumpsuit._

"Oh dear God, Nooooo!" screamed Kakashi inwardly.

Meanwhile Itachi's eyes widened 'I know she spoke of training, I didn't know she would go this extreme'

'I guess that's meant, she's being serious. All the best, Izumi' Itachi cheered on Izumi in his heart.

ooooo

End

ooooo

Omake

 _The sounds of footsteps can be heard._

 _"Come Mei, come" 22 years old Mina urged her 4-years old niece to run._

 _They had heard of it, the rumours._

 _But it was so outlandish that they decided not to believe it._

 _ **Someone up there wanted to purge those with Kekkei Genka** i._

 _Now they are paying the price._

 _Mina herself was not a shinobi, but her brother was and her niece appeared to possess two Kekkei Genkai._

 _Mei's father stayed behind to delayed their attackers while Mina and Mei ran to safety._

 _'"Don't think you can run forever!" shouted a voice._

 _Mina cried while running and now carrying Mei, that voice meant that **nii-san had died**._

 _She reached a cliff, she turned and saw the masked shinobi, **Hunter-nin**._

 _Hugging Mei tightly, she jumped and prayed in her heart that Mei will survive._

ooooo

 _"Mei!" Mina opened her eyes and saw that she was in a hut._

 _She turned and saw a man, wearing some weird clothes-_

 _-she scrambled to-_

 _"Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't worry, I'm not here to harm you!" said the man._

 _Mina paused, she looked at the person cautiously._

 _"I found you two weeks ago by the beach. This hut belongs to a doctor that I've known for a while...you are safe now" said the man._

 _"You- found me alone?" asked Mina._

 _The guy nodded his head._

 _Mina wept quietly 'Mei, I hope you made it to safety._

 _"Are you... ... ...alright?" asked the person._

 _Mina nodded as she wiped her tears "I'm sorry, I forgot to thank you- er..."_

 _"My name is Maito Dai" said the person with a thumb up and a toothy smile-_

ooooo

 _"...and that's how I first met your tō-chan" said Mina to a 3-years old Mai._

ooooo

A/N: Sorry for the omake format. I've fixed them but they revert back to centralize.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thank you **Gewitternder** , **Hanyouprincess3** , **Nanael107** , **Owl Witch Pokemon9917** , **satomaa** and **thebeserker** for your supports.

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A/N: I am truly sorry for this format (all centered); I have tried many times to change it and they just go back to the center. This is driving me nuts thus I was away from FanFict for a while...to cool me down. I cannot access the website version to correct it. So hope this doesn't affect your reading

ooooo

This was one of the happiest day in Sasuke's life; he was training hard at the Academy when 13 years old Itachi dropped by, gave him some pointers and treated him to dinner.

Then, Itachi carried him on his back and they talked-

-until the _witch_ appeared. Uchiha Izumi.

"Just got back from a mission?" asked Itachi as he noted the worn-out attire (including the chūnin jacket) on Izumi.

"Yes... ... ..." Izumi chatted a bit about her mission.

Sasuke pouted. He was about to say "Nii-"

-Itachi raised his hand to silent him. Izumi took out a kunai.

Alarmed, Sasuke looked around; they had arrived at Uchiha Compound-

'Why is it dark and silent?' thought Sasuke.

"Izumi, guard Sasuke" said Itachi.

"But-" Sasuke wanted to protest, but was silent by a look from Itachi.

Itachi looked around and saw a lying figure; he kneeled, trying to find pulses, but there's none.

Then they heard a scuffle; Itachi teleported to the source of the sound.

ooooo

After Itachi left, Izumi looked around and find another body; a member of Konoha Police Force. His eyes were gone. Izumi noted that the wound that killed him and the wound from the eyes looked different; one was wetter than the other one.

"He was killed sometime ago but his eyes were taken minutes ago; two different people or one trying to finish the job?" thought Izumi.

Uncertain, she bit her thumb and began to summon two crows "Find Hana and Mai" ordered Izumi. The crows flew off.

"I want nii-san, are tō-san and kaa-san alright?" asked Sasuke.

"I don't know, Sasuke. I'm waiting for my teammates, then we can go find your parents" answered Izumi.

"Your teammates? Why don't call the Hokage ?" asked Sasuke.

"We do not know what we are dealing, so I'm calling my teammates for backup. Once we are certain or have more facts, then we'll report our findings to the Hokage" explained Izumi.

Sasuke wanted to ask more when two teenage girls, one with red and black hair and the other with brown hair appeared-

'They are Naruto's sister and Kiba's sister' Sasuke recognized them. 

"You call, Izumi?" asked Mai.

"What happened here, Izumi?" asked Hana.

Izumi gave a brief report "... ... ... I think there's someone taking out sharingan. I have found two bodies, one with his eyes still intact, he was a civillian. The other had his eyes taken. A police force"

Sasuke felt like he wanted to vomit 'Gauging eyes from dead body for sharingan? Tō-san! Kaa-san!' Sasuke began to run.

"Sasuke!" 

"You go Izumi, Hana and I will try to find who did this" said Mai.

ooooo

Hana began to focus chakra on her nose when it detects something "There!" she pointed to their left.

ooooo

Itachi landed and saw Shisui fighting a figure wearing a mask who was snarling "How dare you betrayed me!"

Shisui was smiling as he said "I think you betrayed us first, Madara"

'Madara?!' thought Itachi.

The masked guy said "It looks like we've got company. Till next time" before he disappeared. 

Shisui kneeled and panted. He turned to Itachi and smiled "Can you carry me over there?"

Itachi nodded. He had no reason to doubt Shisui. He carried Shisui to the ravine next to Naka River.

Shisui looked at the river; the sound of the water was calming to him. He looked at the river for a moment before he turned to Itachi.

"Uchiha clan was planning a coup, and I killed them all" said Shisui as he looked at Itachi.

Itachi's eyes widened, he knew something was off with his clan-

"I begged Fugaku-sama and Hokage-sama to keep you out of it" explained Shisui "I said that you are the future of Uchiha clan, involving you with this mess will destroy your future. They agreed, albeit for different reason. I tried so hard but they are hell-bent on the coup...you know what'll happen then-" Shisui turned to Itachi.

Itachi nodded. The coup would have weakened Konoha's military power which would have enticed other Hidden Villages to attack them.

"-at the same time, I also noticed that someone was lurking around...he was the guy that you heard. He claimed to be Madara. _May be_. He definitely has sharingan. _He is someone beyond your skill_ Itachi-" 

Shisui looked at Itachi straight into his eyes and smiled, before plucking his eyes out, took Itachi's hand and put both of his eyes into Itachi's palm and closed it-

"- _for now_. I entrust you with my eyes; I was supposed to use it to stop the coup but Madara's appearance changed it. I have no right to live on with the many lives I've taken..."

Shisui stepped forward to the ravine's edge-

"The future of Uchiha clan lives with you Itachi"

-he jumped towards the Naka River.

"Shisui!" 

"-oh...name your firstborn after me" was heard from the ravine, followed by a chuckle.

ooooo

End

ooooo

A/N: So yeah...Shisui still got both eyes in this story.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Thank you to **8Sargeras8** , **FrostFriday** , **Kazukimi** , **lette4127** , **Marauderminion** , **pjpokefan** , **Tsuuukuuyomi** for your supports.

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A/N: This is to remind every that I do not own the copyright for Naruto.

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Hospital

Sasuke was lying on the hospital bed, replaying the conversation he had heard...

ooooo

 _"How's Sasuke?" asked Izumi as she entered the ward and saw Itachi was drawing the curtain around Sasuke's bed._

 _"I gave him something to help him sleep" answered Itachi before asking "What did your teammates say?"_

 _Izumi was frowning "They found the person who took the eyes, he was in the process of taking another pair of eyes, they fought, the man was clearly skilled but no match to them-" Izumi sounded proud of her teammates "-when they were about to take him in, he swallowed something that released strong acid-like liquid which diissolved him on the spot. Hana and Mai took whatever left of him and sent it to the lab. The man was wearing a mask, so no identification" Izumi sighed._

 _"What actually happened, Itachi?" asked Izumi._

 _"The clan was planning a coup-" said Itachi after a long paused._

 _"What?!"_

 _"-they felt that the Uchiha clan was being discriminated-"_

 _"Why?"_

 _"The idea started from Uchiha Madara...he believed he should be the Hokage, not Senju Hashirama. But at that time, the Uchiha was tired from war...so they rejected Madara's idea and hence, the battle between Madara and Hashirama. Later on, Senju Tobirama was elected as Hokage, followed by Sarutobi Hiruzen and Namikaze Minato...but no Uchiha, despite being one of the two founders of Konoha. Some were beginning to feel unhappy. This feeling was intensified after the Kyūbi attack-"_

 _Itachi took a deep breath before resuming his story "-the last known person that can control the Kyūbi was Madara, using his sharingan. So naturally-"_

 _"-people assumed that the Uchiha had something to do with the attack" said Izumi as the truth dawned to her._

 _"Since most of the Uchiha belonged to the police force and during the attack, they were ordered to protect the civilians...none were seen defending Konoha from the Kyūbi...which was seen as confirming the assumption. Words were whispered and as a result, many of the Uchiha felt that they were wronged and therefore, the coup"_

 _"I did feel that something was off-" added Itachi "-but behind my back, Shisui begged Otōsan and Sandaime not to get me involved in this mess. Shisui believed that a true shinobi protects from the shadow, so he carried out the mission himself, trying to protect Konoha and the name of Uchiha clan from being dragged down as a traitor"_

 _"Why left us out?" asked Izumi._

 _"There was supposed to be meeting tonight...but we weren't there. It could be that, or it could be that Shisui decided to leave us as the new generation of Uchiha clan, one that did not carry Madara's idea"_

 _"What are you going to tell Sasuke?"_

 _"I haven't decided yet"_

 _"Itachi? What do you think of all of this?"_

 _"Why did you asked?"_

 _"You said you noticed that something was off. What would you have done if Shisui hadn't gone to Fugaku and Sandaime?"_

 _"I would try to forge peace so no coup will take place...I suspected that's what Shisui tried to do...I believed he did what he did because there's no other way...I... ... ...might do the same. If the coup happened, the Uchiha name will be dragged down the mud. Regardless of the outcome, our military power will be weakened. Others will try to take Konoha...when that happened, more bloods will be spilled, lives will be lost and kids left as orphans..."_

 _"I have seen war, I don't want Sasuke to see it...not for as long as I can protect him"_

ooooo

...that's when the medicine kicked in and Sasuke fell asleep.

Now in the middle of the night, he laid awakened by his thoughts...

'Was all that had happened, actually happened?'

'His parents were murdered'

'By Shisui'

'Because the clan was planning a coup?'

'Is that the truth?'

'Or Itachi lied?'

"... _I don't want Sasuke to see it. Not for as long as I can protect him_ " Itachi's words came to his mind.

Drowsiness began to overcome him and Sasuke last thought was 'If it was Itachi instead of Shisui, would he kill him?'

ooooo

Itachi laid on his bed in the same ward as Sasuke's thinking 'Hopefully Sasuke heard what he intended him to hear'

ooooo

End

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	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-sensei

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 _"There's more-" said Itachi after he checked on Sasuke "-I overheard Shisui talking to another person who claimed himself to be Madara-"_

 _"Madara?"_

 _"That's what I heard. I gathered, Shisui had helped with the massacre, after that he intended to eliminate this Madara but couldn't. The man disappeared after that. I couldn't detect him"_

 _Izumi frowned as she was processing new information._

 _"Shisui warned me that I am no match for him...yet"_

 _Izumi arched her eyebrows and asked "Meaning?"_

 _"There may be four Uchiha left on this world, one appeared to have had bad feelings with the Uchiha..."_

 _"I should watch my back?"_

 _"Just be careful"_

ooooo

'Be stronger you meant' thought Izumi as she reflected her conversation with Itachi.

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Uchiha Compound

Kakashi was looking at the houses and memories of Obito came flooding in, until he heard "... ... right Kakashi?"

He turned to the owner of the voice owner and said "Huh? You said something Gai?"

"Gah!!! Again, with your cool and hip attitude!" cried Gai as Mai giggled at the (almost) everyweek scene.

Gai, Hana, Kakashi, Mai and a few others were asked by Itachi and Izumi to comb through the houses in Uchiha Compound to look for scroll or any sensitive materials, before they issued D-rank missions to clean-up and closed the houses.

"Kakashi-senpai and I will go through the Police Station to go through all the files and documents while the rest of you go through the houses. I have filed this mission as A-rank due to the sensitivity nature of the documents. We will stop at 12 to 2 for lunch and short break before continuing until 6" said Itachi "We will continue with this timing until all important documents have been catalogued and stored properly"

Itachi nodded to end his order and they dispersed.

"So...where are you staying now?" asked Kakashi as he and Itachi walked to the Police Station.

"At the moment, the Hokage allowed us to stay in one of the unused hospital wards until we found another lodging"

"Not staying here?"

Itachi looked at the houses, haunted with memories and shook his head "At the moment, this area will be vacated until when the three of us are ready to talk about it"

"How's Sasuke?"

"Getting better...he kept quiet a lot"

"...so will you take over Police Force?"

Itachi smiled "I have quit ANBU, now taking a break to make sure that Sasuke will be alright before joining the Jōnin Force. Shikaku-sama allowed me to take as long as the needed break and report to him once I'm certain that Sasuke is alright...as of the Police Force...I leave it to Sandaime"

ooooo

"I was thinking of applying for the Police Force" said Kuma to Yui.

"That...was sudden" said Yui.

"Things happened" said Kuma with a wry smile "Itachi has quit ANBU. From what I knew of him, I doubt he's interested to take over Police Force while Sasuke is too young. I have the experience of running ANBU. I want to propose to the Hokage for Police Force to focus on the inside of Konoha and for ANBU to focus on the outside. Cooperate when the line was crossed. That way, I hope the Police Force and ANBU can work together for Konoha's safety"

"Besides-" Kuma glanced at Yui and looked at the ground "-I think now is the time for us to think about...you know...kids"

"Now?"

"Your students are doing okay now...joining Police Force means that, I will be close to home most of the times. This is as stable as we can get, Yui"

'He's right' thought Yui 'Buy it also means I have to put aside my job for awhile...or maybe permanently. Am I ready for that?'

"Let me think about it" was the answered Yui gave.

ooooo

Sasuke was walking around Konoha aimlessly. It had been two months since the massacre when Itach informed him that he'll be active fore duty again. Meaning, Itachi will be away for awhile for his mission.

Sasuke pouted. The past two months have been wonderful to him (aside from the massacre). _Itachi was by his side all the time_.

Whatever doubt he had about Itachi...was gone during the past two months. _Itachi really cared about him_.

Itachi _quit ANBU_ and took a _break_ for him.

They (and the _witch_ ) hunted for house together until they found two single-storey houses side-by-side; one for them and the other for the _witch_.

Itachi informed him when they were about to clean the Compound; together, they gone through almost every scroll (except for the ones Itachi said not for his eyes or age) and catalogued them properly (the _witch_ collected all the recipes and planned to compile the as Uchiha Cookbook.

When Itachi told him about the changes in Police Force, he threw a tantrum.

When Itachi asked if he mind to offer the houses to the new Police Force, he threw another tantrum.

Deep down, he knew Itachi was doing the right thing, he's just not ready to let the memory go.

Sasuke's thoughts were interrupted with shoutings. He turned and Kiba and Naruto being chased by three dogs.

"Your sister was crazy you know!" shouted Kiba.

"Hey! It was your crazy sister that ordered her dogs to chase us" Naruto shouted back.

"This is troublesome...but why me?" grumbled Shikamaru.

"Help! Don't eat me!" cried Chōji.

"Heh...that will teach them not to cut class" said a voice.

Sasuke looked up and saw the Three Witches (as he dubbed Hana, Izumi and Mai) on the roof.

"Are you sure that's alright?" asked Izumi.

"Don't worry, Haimaru Brothers are skilled at chasing my idiot brother. The worst they'd do is to give him a gentle nip" Hana was grinning.

Right on cue, shoutings were heard;

"Argh!!!"

"Don't eat me!!!!!!"

Sasuke was thinking 'I'm about to return to the Academy with this madness?'

ooooo

End

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A/N: Sasuke has not returned to the Academy since the massacre.

A/N: I'll be focusing on A Tale of Two Jinchūriki during my next free time, so Happy Holiday everyone. Thank you for reading Maito Mai, hope you've enjoyed what I've put up so far.

A/N: Next chapter will take place around Naruto's graduation.


	15. Chapter 15

Yui put down a sleeping Zoro next to Tashigi and pat him gently. She turned and saw that the babysitter is ready to asume her position.

It had been more than two years after the Uchiha Massacre and four months ago, she gave birth to Zoro and Tashigi

It was a bittersweet moment for Kuma and her; she was pregnant with triplets but due to some complications, her third-born, Kuina, did not make it.

On that day, Yui cried of joy and sadness. The first three months was a turmoil; Yui knew she would not be able to make through it had it not been for Kuma and her students who helped her and supported around the clock.

Yui looked at the clock on the wall and realized that she's going to be late. She took two-years of maternity leave but today was a special day, her students were taking their final test for Jōnin Evaluation.

Yui had submitted her reports six months ago supporting her students' applications for a jōnin position. For the past six months, her students were evaluated on various aspects by different jōnins and today was the final test.

ooooo

Training Ground 44

Hana, Izumi and Mai was chatting amongst themselves when Yui appeared.

"Sensei!" greeted the three of them.

Yui smiled "Ready?"

"Of course" Mai replied with great enthusiasm, not unlike a certain jōnin while Hana grinned, Haimaru Brothers barked and Izumi smiled faintly.

Yui looked at Izumi and said reassuringly "You are ready, Izumi" before turning to Hana and Mai and said "Give all your best!"

Mai was called first and to her surprise, her opponent was Uchiha Itachi.

'I see' thought Yui 'Mai predominantly fight with Ninjutsu and Taijutsu while Itachi is known for his genjutsu and Mangekyo Sharingan. This will test her analytical skill during battle'.

The fight between Mai and Itachi continued for 40 minutes (with Gai cheering loudly) before Itachi called it off and congratulated Mai.

This was followed by Hana vs. Nara Ensui and Izumi vs. Kakashi (to Izumi great surprise and fear)

ooooo

"Congratulations!" said Yui to the newly appointed Jōnin (Izumi and Mai) and Tokubetsu Jōnin (Hana) as they were celebrating with Gai (who's having an eating contest with Kakashi), Itachi, and Inuzuka Tsume with Kuromaru.

"Here-" said Yui as she held 3 daggers towards Hana, Izumi and Mai "-my gift to you" she said with a smile.

"Thank you, sensei" said Hana, Izumi and Mai in a chorus. They inspected the daggers in detail when Mai asked "Does this means our team is officially ended?"

A silent ensued. Izumi looked at Itachi and nodded her head.

"It's very rare for a genin team to continue up until jōnin. In fact, I have never heard of it" said Itachi "Mostly due to different specializations, as exhibited in your team. With that, I was wondering if you would like to be my partner?" asked Itachi as he looked at Mai.

"Partner?" Mai was stupefied as she looked from Itachi to Izumi (Gai and Kakashi competed more quietly as they listened to the conversation).

"I-" Itachi wasn't sure how to say-

"Itachi needs a strong partner to challenge him-" explained Izumi "-like Gai-san and Kakashi-san. Both you and Hana are the strongest of our age-group that I've known, but Hana is a vet. The Uchiha are known for our affinity to Fire Release, I thought that might suits yours better. That's why Itachi was your assessor"

"How about you?" Mai asked Izumi.

"Surprisingly, my Diplomacy scores was excellent. For that reason, I was approached to handle the politics between Konoha and Land of Fire" Izumi was blushing as she spoke.

"Congratulations!" said Mai and Hana simultaneously, they looked at each other and laughed.

"I guess we _are_ breaking up" said Mai emotionally.

"Not permanently, I hope" said Yui gently "As your sensei, I am proud to see each and every one of you grew and flourished in your own way. Hana, you will be the best Vet Konoha ever had. Izumi, I'm sure the relationship between Konoha and Land of Fire will be better and stronger under your care. Mai, kick more a*!"

"We will, sensei!"

ooooo

A/N: Yeah...for some reason, while writing Maito Mai, characters from One Piece appeared in my head and their names stuck...so I just decided to go with it.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Thank you **DarthEpsilon** , **dghkdwudhs1** , **GraceHeart27** , **jingerr** , **Murphdog98** , **RavenCarmoran** , **RougeNeige** , **ToraWhite** , **Uzumaki** **Nagisa** , **Wolfsfuchs** and **Ybaz** for your supports...

ooooo

A/N: ...and Naruto is not mine.

ooooo

"Here, again?" Kakashi asked Mai who was sitting on a tree branch, observing a new genin team.

Mai turned towards Kakashi and smiled "I could say the same about you"

Kakashi rolled his eye "I'm not the one who spy on a new genin team everyday for the past two weeks"

Mai smiled and Kakashi narrowed his eye; her smile did not match the worry in her eyes "Something wrong?" he asked gently.

Mai shook her head "They will be with nii-san now, his life depends on them. I just have to make sure he got a good team with him. You know how important teammates are"

Kakashi nodded "But that's not what I asked"

"I know" said Mai but she kept on looking at Gai and his genin team. She knew Kakashi's question; she just couldn't answer it... _Itachi_.

ooooo

 _Flashback_

ooooo

 _"I hope you've had good reason as I don't want to fight Izumi" Mai said without stopping weeding the garden bed._

 _"How long you've noticed?" asked Itachi as he stepped into the garden._

 _Mai gave him a look and asked "What do you want?"_

 _"I was accompanying Izumi to pick her vest when I saw yours, so I offered to deliver it to you" said Itachi as he showed Mai a jōnin vest._

 _Mai looked at the jacket, then at Itachi for a moment before taking her vest._

 _"Thanks-" said Mai as she resumed with her weeding "-so, what do you want to talk about? If you want to back out of us being a team-"_

 _"I'm sick"_

 _Mai immediately turned and faced Itachi._

 _"I first noticed that there is something wrong in me whenever I've had prolonged fights. When I finally decided to have a proper check-up, I was attacked by Orochimaru on one of my solo-mission-"_

 _"-the attack could be a coincidence, but he could be tipped-off from someone inside Konoha. Orochimaru desires sharingan; if someone inside Konoha is working for him, Orochimaru could have known about my health, that would make him attack me sooner, or he would target Izumi or Sasuke-"_

 _"-I cannot let that happen. Hence, the partnership"_

 _Mai frowned._

 _Itachi explained further "I told the Hokage. He had to know for my plan to work. He suggested to go see her student, Tsunade-sama for a diagnosis. He'll issue an S-rank mission with proper payment for Tsunade-sama-"_

 _"-as I have said earlier, I felt something after prolonged fights. Unfortunately, I tended to draw undesirable opponents, and with three others in a group, it's harder to regroup and retreat, thus the prolonged fights-"_

 _A comprehension dawned to Mai._

 _"-it's easier to retreat with just two of us. I believe that having you as my partner will make any fights...take less toll on me"_

 _"Thank you. That's an honour coming from you, I hope I can live up to your expectancy" said Mai._

 _"We'll see" said Itachi with a small smile "Hokage got lead on the whereabouts of Tsunade-sama. See you at the gate in an hour"_

 _"Will do"_

ooooo

 _"You'd better retire" said Tsunade._

 _Itachi shook his head gently "With all due respect, that option is unacceptable"_

 _Tsunade looked at Itachi deeply-_

 _"Stick around for a week while we whipped up something for you. You'll pay for the ingredients. our lodgings and food. You will see me every six months but I won't tell you where. You will abstain from taking mission when your body is telling you to rest. Break my order and I will hunt you down, dragged you to Konoha and put you in Permanent Ward, got it?!"_

 _Itachi bowed his head "Hait, thank you Tsunade-sama"_

ooooo

 _During the last mission_

 _"We are surrounded" said Mai as she scanned her surrounding. She glanced at Itachi and noticed clenched fists-_

 _'He's having another attack' thought Mai. She immediately made a decision "I could fend them off-"_

 _"No" Itachi interjected "I need you full strength for us to escape safely. I have enough chakra for a few **Exploding** **Clones**. That will buy us time to retreat"_

 _'But that'll make you weakee-' said Mai in her head 'but he's right. He'a already in a bad condition and we are a day and a half away from the Border Patrol's Station. If I fight, there's a possibility neither of us make it to the Station. If he use the clones as distractions and if I added my Lava to stall, our chances of reaching the Station in two pieces are higher'_

 _Mai took out her Soldier Pill and crunched it loudly, signing to Itachi that she's ready_

 _" **Exploding** **Clones**!"_

ooooo

 _Once they made it to the Border Station and Itachi took his medicine, he needed another week for him to be well enough to make the journey back to Konoha. To the others, Mai said Itachi had exhausted his chakra thus needed a week to recover._

 _As they stepped foot inside Konoha, Itachi turned to Mai and said "Thank you. I think after this, I might take two to three weeks off before we can take another mission"_

 _Mai grinned and said "It's okay, partner. Just get better" as she gave him a light punch on the shoulder._

ooooo

 _Flashback End_

ooooo

"Oh dear God-" Mai's thought was broken by Kakashi's words "-he has a doppelgänger now" when he noticed that one of Gai students had decided to emulate his sensei.

Mai giggled "Passed yourself a team, then you might have your own doppelgänger"

Kakashi shuddered.

ooooo

End

ooooo

A/N: My reference for Itachi's illness was from chunin-livejournal-com (please replace the dash with dot).


	17. Chapter-17

Yo! Sorry for the long absence. Long story short, just finished study and need to figure my bread and butter.

A Tale of Two Jinchūriki is still on a break - due to my hectic schedule, the plot in my head is not up to my standard. So I'm not posting any new chapter - yet.

Maito Mai is easier as the main plot is there, I just tweaked it a little.

And I want to say thank you to the readers who commented, clicked favourite and follow me or any of my stories - you guys are the reason why I haven't given up yet - apart from now that I got a leeway. I'll write your name one by one once I have a proper time.

In the meantime, hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

ooooo

Just a boring reminder - Naruto is not mine.

ooooo

Somewhere in Konoha

Mai and Itachi were jumping from tree to tree in a hurried manner, eager to return to Konoha.

"Do you think they'll pass?" asked Mai.

"I am confidence in Sasuke's ability" answered Itachi solemnly "Do you-"

-he trailed off and looked at Mai.

Mai had noticed too. A sudden spike of chakra, loud noises and a scream.

They both shared a glance and change direction.

ooooo

"Congratulations Naruto, you've passed" said Umino Iruka with a smile

Naruto teared up and jump at Iruka "Iruka-sensei!" and cried.

"Ack!" cried Iruka. He was injured after all.

...

...

...

"Naruto? What are you doing here at this hour?" asked a voice which sent the shiver down in Naruto's spine.

Naruto turned and saw Mai and Sasuke's nii-san jumped down, scanned the area (noting the unconscious Mizuki) and walked towards them.

Subconsciously, Naruto scratched the back of his head and said "Eh he he...urm..nee-san...urm-"

"Let me explain" said Iruka before proceeding to tell what had happened while Itachi administered first-aid to his injury.

...

...

...

"HE WHAT?!!!" Mai turned and stomped off-

'Uh oh' thought Itachi as he immediately jumped, just in time, in-between Mai and Mizuki-

"He's unconscious" said Itachi succinctly, meaning 'he's not going to feel the pain'.

Mai narrowed her eyes but agreed to Itachi. She tied Mizuki roughly before dragging him towards Konoha-

-when four ANBU landed in front of them "We got this" said one of them.

Mai nodded and proceeded to help Itachi with Iruka when Itachi said "I got him. You and Naruto had better go see Hokage to return the scroll and deliver our report"

Mai turned to Naruto and her eyes softened "Come Naruto, the faster we give our report, the faster we can go Ichiraku Ramen" Mai said with a smile "Congratulations!"

Naruto beamed widely "RAMEN!!!"

ooooo

In the meantime, Sasuke was waiting patiently for Itachi to come home 'Nii-san said he'll come back today'

ooooo

End

ooooo


	18. Chapter-18

Mai was hanging the laundry when she heard a knock. She opened the door-

"Hokage-sama, what a surprise, do come in" said Mai.

"Thank you Mai. I'm afraid I cannot be long, I'm here on official business" said Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Mai looked at the Hokage and saw Kakashi standing behind him. She remembered that today was the day Naruto being assigned to a team-

Mai's eyes widened as she put two and two together, before she broke into a laugh "You're going to be Naruto's sensei? Bwahahaha!!! Sorry Hokage-sama...but, bwahahahaha!!!"

"Told you she's going to laugh" said Kakashi petulantly.

Sandaime Hokage smiled discreetly.

ooooo

"Are you going to put me in a doghouse if I failed Naruto?" asked Kakashi.

Mai looked surprise "No, should I?"

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and said "So hypothetically, if I failed Naruto, no harm shall befall upon me?"

Mai put on a thinking look "Well, as a Sensei, that's your prerogative to pass or fail a student-"

"- but don't worry, I believe in Naruto" said Mai with confidence-

"-or we could have tempura every day for the next month" Mai said in a sing-song manner. (A/N: Tempura is Kakashi's least favourite food)

Kakashi sighed 'Why me?'

ooooo

"You guys...PASSED!" announced Kakashi to Team 7.

A few hundred meters away, hidden amongst the tree branches, Itachi turned to Mai and asked "I take it, Kakashi's not sleeping in a doghouse ?"

"Why people assumed that? asked Mai indignantly.

Itachi didn't answered but arched his brows 'Do you need to ask?'

Mai huffed "I've never sent Kakashi to a doghouse!"

'Yeah, but I have seen Kakashi being sent out because he forgot Naruto's birthday present' thought Itachi to himself, smirking as he remembered the scenario.

His trip down the memory lane was interrupted when a crow landed on his shoulder, dropping a message.

"It's time for Tsunade-sama, right?" asked Mai.

"Hait"

"We can leave tomorrow. Tonight, let's celebrate their success"

Itachi nodded his head and burned the message.

ooooo

End

ooooo

Omake

"To whom are you going to deliver the scroll?" asked Morino Ibiki to Mizuki.

Silent. As it has been for the past few days.

Ibiki collected his notes. As he was about to leave the room, he said "Good luck with the next persons" before closing the door.

Silent.

...

...

...

The door knob made a sound. Mizuki turned his head. The knob was turned and the first thing he saw was a pair of red eyes. His world changed into lava and steam.

Few moments later, Mizuki screamed which can be heard throughout Konoha-

-had it not been for the soundproof room.

Mizuki hair turned white, his spirit broken.

Itachi closed his eyes and as he opened them again, they've returned to their original colours. He turned to Ibiki and said "He had contact with Orochimaru, once only"

Ibiki nodded and thought to himself "Another one discarded by Orochimaru"

ooooo


	19. Chapter-19

"You are entering them in a Chūnin Exam?!" Mai asked Kakashi.

"Hait"

"They've only been Genin for six months!"

"Hait"

Mai stared at Kakashi, straight into his eye, which was looking back at hers, unflinchingly.

"You think they are ready?" she asked softly.

"They took down a missing-nin when I was trapped, incapable of making a move...so I believe they are ready" answered Kakashi.

"I know you are worried about him-" he continued "-but he's Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha Genin albeit for six months"

"I know" said Mai, turning away her head-

"You have to trust him-"

"I do"

"You don't trust my judgement?" asked Kakashi.

Mai looked at Kakashi...and released a breath she didn't realised she was holding "I'm sorry Kakashi. It was never my intention to doubt your judgement. I was just-"

"-worried about him" cut Kakashi with a wry grin "It's understandable...why don't you buy me a meal and we call it even?"

Mai made a raspberry sound "H* no! It's your turn to cook and you know it! Is that why you dropped the news today?! So you don't have to cook?! You are not going to escape from it ... ... ..."

Izumi whispered to Itachi as they stood outside the house "Should we knock?"

"I think it's best if we leave them to be" replied Itachi, who came to ask Kakashi the same question.

ooooo

"I'll make you proud, nii-san" said Sasuke as he's about to leave for his Exam.

Itachi poked Sasuke's forehead and said "I am always proud of you, silly little brother"

Sasuke touched his forehead and grinned.

ooooo

Itachi was feeling another attack in his chest when Pakkun delivered the message 'Sasuke was marked by Orochimaru - I've sealed it - will let you see him as soon as the exam finished - Kakashi'

After thanking Pakkun and saw that he has already left, Itachi ran to to bathroom and vomited blood.

ooooo

"You have to tell Sasuke" said Izumi as she smoothed Itachi's blanket.

Itachi stared out of the window, looking at the cloud.

"That his nii-san is dying?" Itachi asked with a smile.

"You are not going to die soon. I won't let you!"

"Even if that means I'm no longer a shinobi?"

"Hait. You, Uchiha Itachi is more than a shinobi, take that away and you still are the kindest and most peace-loving person I've ever met. There's more to you than just a shinobi"

Itachi stared at Izumi deeply and asked "Are you sure you want to stay with me, Izumi? I know Sandaime received a lot of requests about you"

Izumi turned her head, walked towards Itachi and sat down on the bedside. She helped his hand and replied gently "They were not the one who stood by me when I was a struggling shinobi...they were not the one who stood by me when I was down, who cheered me up when I needed it the most... ... ...they aren't you, Itachi. You've been by my side when I was down, and I will be by your side till my dying breath" she smiled gently as tears streamed down her cheeks.

ooooo

End

ooooo


	20. Chapter-20

Sasuke was sitting on a tree, overlooking Konoha...

'I'm dying, Sasuke'

ooooo

 _Flashback_

ooooo

 _"I'm dying Sasuke" said Itachi after Chūnin Exam has ended._

 _Sasuke stared at his brother_.

...

...

...

 _"How long?" whispered Sasuke._

 _"How long I've known, or how long I have?" asked Itachi._

" _I've known for years" Itachi explained without waiting for Sasuke's response "Right before that, I was attacked by Orochimaru, like he did to you...only he failed. Right then I knew, if the news of my illness came out, you and Izumi will be the target of many, thus only few knew. As for how long...even Tsunade-sama didn't know. The condition worsened under certain circumstances-"_

 _"-like fighting?" asked Sasuke_.

 _"Hait"_

 _"Why are you telling me now... ... ..." Sasuke's eyes widened "You're getting worse?"_

 _Itachi smiled, Sasuke was strucked by how pale Itachi looked...there's a tiredness in his eyes, and sorrow._

" _Is there any way to cure it? asked Sasuke_.

" _Even if there is, I cannot take it. Konoha was just being attacked. We lost Sandaime. All shinobi who can fight and defend, are doing their bests to protect Konoha" Itachi said with a hint of pride in his voice._

 _"I don't understand"_

 _Itachi looked at Sasuke and smiled "If Konoha show a sign of weakness, it will tempt forest shinobi to attack Konoha. When that happened, we'll lost more that what we have lost recently. You might have gotten drag into it" Itachi poked Sasuke's forehead "I prefer if you don't, silly little brother"_

ooooo

 _Flashback End_

ooooo

Sasuke touched his forehead...and then banged his fist onto the nearest tree trunk.

He was frustrated and angry with himself. Itachi was suffering to protect _him_.

Sasuke closed his eyes as his fingers laid on his forehead 'Itachi has always protecting, more so after the massacre-'

'The massacre! Shisui!' a fire was lit inside Sasuke.

ooooo

Sasuke stood in front of the Memorial Stone. Shisui's name was not there since the public believed that the massacre was carried out by the Loony Shisui who resented for not being able to become the Head of Uchiha Clan.

Itachi did nothing to clear that up since he knew, Shisui would have prefer his name being smeared rather than the truth - that Uchiha Clan is a traitorous clan.

Nevertheless, on the anniversary of the massacre, Itachi would always come to the Memorial Stone with Izumi and Sasuke, to remember the sacrifices made by Shisui.

' _Shisui believed that a true shinobi protects from the shadow_ ' Sasuke remembered the conversation between Itachi and Izumi.

Sasuke prayed hard at the Memorial Stone, asking for strength as he made his resolution.

ooooo

Sasuke's prayer was interrupted when he sensed incoming chakras.

...

...

...

"We are here from Orochimaru-sama"

...

...

...

Sasuke looked up at the sky and smiled 'Thank you'

'I'm sorry nii-san. This time, it's my turn to protect you'

ooooo

End

ooooo


	21. Chapter-21

Itach was awakened when he heard Izumi entered his bedroom to give him his medicine. He looked at the window to gage the time when he saw the hawk circling outside.

'Sasuke!'

Itachi rushed to the window and held out his arm. The hawk perched on his arm, attached to the leg was two small scrolls labelled 'Itachi' and 'Izumi'

Izumi frowned as she read her message:

 _'I don't like you, take care of Nii-san'_

Itachi's eyes widened as he read his message:

 _'I'm sorry Nii-san. This time, I'll protect you. Get better'_

"Izumi! We need to see Hokage-sama!"

ooooo

Hokage Office

"What do you mean you've sent Shikamaru to retrieve Sasuke?" asked Itachi.

"Sakura saw Sasuke was heading towards one of the exit. As she was about to call him, Sasuke appeared behind her and said "I'm sorry Sakura, I have to go" before knocking her unconscious" explained Godaime Hokage Senju Tsunade "Naturally I sent a team to retrieve him before he can betray us to Orochimaru. I understand he has marked Sasuke"

"I don't think Sasuke planned to betray. I think he planned to pretend to be swayed by him, hoping to destroy Orochimaru from within" said Itachi as he showed her the messages.

Tsunade eyes widened as she read the messages. Before she could say anything, her guards, Izumo and Kotetsu entered-

"Tsunade-sama. Team ANBU reported that they found Team Shizune injured outside Konoha. It appeared that they've fought with shinobi from Hidden Village of Sound"

Tsunade closed her eyes for a moment before giving her order "Sent First Responder Team to find Team Shikamaru. I'll be at the Hospital if you need me" she turned to Itachi and gave order "Wait in your house till I summon you!"

Itachi and Izumi nodded their heads and left the room.

ooooo

Hokage Office

"All members from Team Shikamaru have returned albeit with injuries, some more severe than the others. Nevertheless, not life-threatening...anymore" said Tsunade.

Itachi's eyes widened "I will personally apologise to each of them on my brother's behalf"

"Speaking of your brother, I believe we have to keep the real reason of his departure a secret, for his safety. The less people know the better"

Itachi nodded his head. He has been expecting that.

"On the other hand, I found this to be a blessing in disguise" said Tsunade with a smile "Jiraiya reported that Orochimaru will need another three years before he can transfer himself into Sasuke. That means, Sasuke has three years to get stronger if he wants to anything to Orochimaru-l

"-with that in mind, Jiraiya is taking Naruto on a long-term trips to focus on his training. Given the long gaps, we can now focus on your treatment. Don't worry-" she added, seeing a look on Itachi's face "-I have thought of a good cover-"

"-Officially, I have recalled you back in ANBU and you'll be away for a long term mission, collecting intelligence from outside Konoha which is Jiraiya's job anyway. In reality, you will be located in Hokage Mansion for your invasive treatment. Shizune and I will have to go through your lung meticulously. Normally after that kind of treatment, you will be weak for six months and can begin to use chakra after that. Even that, your chakra capacity will be the like of a child. You will need another year to be as close as you are now-"

"-Even with the surgery, you will not be 100 percent back to normal. The treatments before were done to minimise the damages. Unfortunately, the damages done to your internal organs would still be there, as scars. As such, you body efficiency are reduced hence you won't return to 100 percent-"

"-The only one who knew about this are me, Shizune, Izumi and Mai, since she was your partner and will return as your partner once you've full recovered. As of now, I'm partnering her with Kakashi who is without a team and both of them will take S-rank mission, not to mention checking out any intells on Akatsuki...she would love that seeing that Akatsuki is targetting Naruto"

Itachi smiled and bowed "I am grateful, Hokage-sama"

Tsunade nodded her head "I expect you in Hokage Mansion tonight. We'll begin your examination tomorrow morning"

Itachi nodded his head and left.

ooooo

End

ooooo


	22. Chapter-22

"Kakashi! What's the meaning of this report?" asked Tsunade.

"With all due respect Hokage-sama, I am just a one person and you sent me with _them-"_ he pointed his thumb at Gai, Mai and Lee, all responded with thumbs up pose "-I could handle one, two...most probably, but I'm outnumbered at three. There's nothing I can do when all three of them decided to show their...errr...you-know-what" Kakashi refused to mention 'youth'

Tsunade looked nonplussed "Oh. Noted"

ooooo

"Kakashi! Explain this" demanded Tsunade as she showed a complain from one of their clients.

Kakashi sighed "We investigated the target as requested...but further investigation revealed that the target involved in shady business involving children and women (Kakashi showed the documents containing evidences ) and _they_ saw red" he pointed at Anko, Hana and Mai.

'Why was I teamed up with these scary females?' Kakashi thought to himself

"Let me see" Tsunade read the documents.

...

...

...

"WHAT?!"

CRASH

Tsunade punched the table in anger. She turned and faced Anko, Hana and Mai and said "Good job. I'll explain to the client that you guys are doing an excellent service by ensuring the target could never ever reproduce ever again"

Anko, Hana and Mai smiled broadly while Kakashi felt a shiver down his spine.

ooooo

Somewhere in Capital of Land of Fire

"Izumi!"

"Mai!"

Izumi and Mai hugged each other and Izumi whispered "Itachi?" followed by "Fine" from Mai.

They broke the hug beaming-

"No hug for me?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile.

Izumi stuck out her tongue and passed him a book "Here for you, I got the author to write special notes for you"

Kakashi opened the book. Hidden on the second page was a piece of paper with title "Akatsuki mentioned" followed by list of locations.

"How nice-" Kakashi drawled while surreptitiously taking the paper out and hid it in his sleeve "-but I'm not interested in cat rearing-" he returned the book to Izumi "-send me a book about dog next time. Let's go Mai, we need to move now if we want to reach an inn before nightfall" Kakashi gave his salute as 'Thank you'

Izumi looked at the backs of her fellow shinobi before returning to her Quarter. Officially she was attached with the Lady of Land of Fire for diplomacy purposes but secretly, she was asked to keep an ear open for any intells regarding 'S-rank missing nin' or ' Akatsuki'.

She missed Itachi, but it was tonic to her heart to know that he is doing well with his treatment.

ooooo

"How many this time?" asked Mai.

"Fifteen" Kakashi passed the list to Mai.

Mai read and burnt the list after memorising them.

"Let's go"

ooooo

"Last one" said Mai happily as they are about to approach Hidden Village of Hot Water-

"Mai" warned Kakashi as he took out his kunai.

Mai took out her blade and looked forward, the Village was uncharacteristically silent.

A few meters away from the village entrance were bodies lying around. Kakashi crouched down to examine the bodies with his kunai.

"This one has been dead for two days" said Kakashi.

Kakashi and Mai continued walking and saw bloodied bodies lying around, males and females, young and old.

After examining few bodies, Mai noticed a pattern "Kakashi-"

"-these wounds are made from one single weapon that has three blades. I noticed that too. The strokes and depths indicated one person-" Kakashi began to take out a scroll and wrote something on it.

"One person killed the whole village? Who could do such a thing?"

"A formidable foe, probably S-rank shinobi" said Kakashi before slicing his thumb and summoning his dogs.

"Yo Kakashi! Long time no...see" Pakkun faltered once he realised his surroundings.

"What happened here?" asked Guruko

"That's what we need to find out. I need one of you to deliver message to Hokage-"

"Leave that to me" said Mai as she summoned her tortoise messenger.

"Kame-kame" squeaked a small tortoise.

"Dai-chan" said Mai seriously "I need this deliver to Hokage-sama" as she tied the scroll on top of the tortoise shell.

"Kame-kame" Dai squeaked before flying off.

Kakashi turned to his pack and ordered "Scout the area!"

ooooo

"No survivor, Kakashi" reported Pakkun "There's one area that looks like bloodbath with unrecognised symbols drawn on the surface and another with blood trailing out of the village"

"Thank you, Pakkun" said Kakashi "You may leave now"

Pakkun raised his front right foot as goodbye before returning home.

"Bloodbath or follow the trail, Kakashi?"

"This is the first promising lead that we've had from Izumi's list. I wish we could go investigate the bloodbath but if we do that, we'll lose time following the trail-"

"-I've sent report to Hokage. Hopefully, ANBU's investigation will shed some light to this massacre" said Kakashi as he led Mai to follow the trail

ooooo

End

ooooo


End file.
